Nami House: an eco-friendly hostel!

As both nature and sea lovers, at Nami House, green & eco hotel for backpackers, we work every day to preserve our idyllic living environment by the sea smile !

That’s why we have implemented a series of measures to preserve our environment, promote eco-responsible tourism and encourage our guests to adopt more eco-friendly practices.

These measures concern:

displays in front of a tap encouraging to save water

fan on a wall with poster encouraging to save energy

1. Water and energy

Water

In order to save water, all our taps are fitted with aerators and some of them have also been equipped with push button taps.
All toilets have dual flush mechanisms.
Although the weather is always beautiful in our green Basque Country , we have installed a water recovery system to collect rainwater for watering plants.
In addition, a large water basin is available for guests to rinse their wetsuits and swimsuits when they return from the beach.

Electricity

We have chosen a green energy supplier: we get our electricity from Enargia, a local cooperative of the Basque Country which supplies 100% renewable energy (photovoltaic + wind-powered + hydroelectric).

To reduce our electricity consumption, washing machines and dishwashers are always run when full and in eco mode. As we are lucky enough to live in a sunny region where there is usually a light breeze, laundry is dried in the fresh air (no dryer).

Moreover, all light bulbs are energy-efficient (LED, class A and above) and some lights are equipped with motion detectors or timers.

Heating and hot water

We also replaced gas for heating and domestic hot water production with a solar system combined with an air-to-water heat pump.

A well-insulated house

Finally, we decided not to install air conditioning. We insulated the roof and attic. In addition, all our bedrooms and the living room are equipped with fans to lower the temperature during summer!

2. Recycling & repairing

At Nami House, we like second-hand and handmade stuff: quite a few pieces of furniture and decorative items have already lived another life before being part of Nami House’s spirit. CLement also found out handyman skills and put a lot of efforts to make various furniture items from wood pallets, wine boxes, etc…

To guarantee your safety while cycling around, we maintained and repaired our bikes in partnership with the participatory workshop Txirrind’ola.

Finally, defective electrical appliances are repaired at the brand new Konpon Txoko Repair Café in Bayonne!

3. Waste sorting

All your waste is carefully sorted to make the most of it: recyclable waste (metal, cardboard, paper, plastic packaging), glass, light bulbs and batteries, compost for the garden… dry bread for Willy !

As for used textiles, if they are still usable they are donated to charities (Red Cross), otherwise, they are recycled into rags.

4. Cleaning products and breakfast

For the cleaning, we do not use any chemical product but the micro-fibres from ENJO, which are amazingly effective!

As for the cleaning products which we can’t do without (dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent and disinfectant), we only choose certified eco-friendly and organic products.

From the very beginning, we made the decision not to provide paper towels, napkins or disposable toiletries.

For breakfast, we offer seasonal fruits, most of which comes from small local producers, and delicious fresh bread from the very local bakery… at the end of the street (which, incidentally, was the winner of the 2024 edition of the TV show The best bakery in France !). Finally, several organic products are now available at breakfast, such as milk and cereals.

Poster explaining few basic eco-responsible practices

Poster explaining how to use flyers to avoid paper waste

5. Other initiatives

At Nami House, we have set up several measures and taken initiatives to move towards eco-responsible tourism and promote good ecological practices among our guests.

Bikes are available for rent to quickly ride around: down to the beach within 5 minutes, to Biarritz Grande Plage within 10 minutes and to Bayonne city center within 25 minutes!

Posters are displayed to kindly remind our guests to save water and energy. Posters provide basic information such as turning off the lights and electrical appliances when leaving a room, not letting water run, drinking tap water since it’s perfectly safe to drink rather than buying plastic bottles… Eco-friendly measures implemented at Nami House can be found in our booklet at the reception.

In order to reduce food waste, guests checking-out can make available for the other guests in the “free food” areas the remaining food they don’t bring with them rather than throwing it away.

Together with Surfrider Foundation where Clément is volunteering, reusable water bottles and thermos bottles are for sale at Nami House.

In addition, we always inform our guests about the events organized by Surfrider Foundation at their headquarter in Biarritz (exhibitions with committed artists) and participate with all the volunteers to the ocean initiatives (marine trash collection on the beach).

Don’t hesitate to come and discuss with us about our eco-friendly measures, we are always happy to share and think together how to make it better!